(This is a bonus post following the series of 820th anniversary highlights of what history now calls the “Third Crusade.” My novel, The Swords of Faith, tells the story of this legendary clash between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin.)

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The first Christmas after the end of the “Third Crusade,” 820 years ago today, did not deliver pleasant gifts to either or the Christian king or the Muslim sultan who had been leaders of the opposing armies. For Saladin, years of war, almost nonstop since 1187, left his empire, extending from Syria across to Egypt and down the Arabian Peninsula, in disarray. Saladin considered going on a pilgrimage to Mecca—he had not yet fulfilled his religious obligation to complete a pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest location. But deteriorating health and issues of reestablishing control over his empire, including the challenge of replenishing a depleted treasury, forced his decision to hold off on the pilgrimage for at least another year. He settled in at Damascus in November for the winter, trying to recover his health and his authority over the lands he ruled.

Richard the Lionheart would have been grateful to experience just a few challenges within his home realm. The first Christmas after the conclusion of the “Third Crusade” did not deliver him home. Richard had decided on a land route for the return home. He hated sea voyages, and a fall/winter sea voyage was more than he could tolerate. He tried to sneak through areas under the control of his enemies, including Leopold of Austria, whom he had insulted at Acre (described in the blog post on Saladin’s surrender of Acre to Christian forces). But just before Christmas, Richard fell into Leopold’s custody. Richard the Lionheart spent the first Christmas after the end of the “Third Crusade” in chains.

Were these post-crusade troubles the result of divine justice of some sort, for shedding blood in the name of religion? I will not attempt an answer to that question here. We will, however, examine an even greater post-crusade irony for these two celebrated leaders during a blog post coming in March on the 820th anniversary of an occasion with immense post-Third Crusade relevance.

Links to every single one of the 820th anniversary posts concerning the “Third Crusade”: